Afghan capital Kabul hit by co-ordinated Taliban attack

Kabul was rocked by blasts as the sound of gunfire filled the streets

Suspected Taliban militants have launched an attack in the Afghan capital Kabul, setting off explosions and sparking a gun battle.

The fighting erupted near the Serena Hotel and presidential palace, although Afghan President Hamid Karzai says security has now been restored.
The Taliban said 20 fighters were involved. A number of people have been killed and dozens hurt, officials say.
This is the latest in a series of increasingly brazen attacks on Kabul.
A statement on a Taliban website said the raid had specifically targeted government buildings and the hotel.
'Under control'
A spokesman for the interior ministry told the BBC it believed seven suicide attackers were involved.
Four attacked a shopping centre near the Serena Hotel and presidential palace. All were now dead and fighting there had ceased, the spokesman said.
Three militants attacked a cinema about 400m away. Two were killed there but one is believed to still be alive. At least two explosions were reported earlier.

US envoy Richard Holbrooke: "We can expect this sort of thing on a regular basis"

A statement from the president's office said: "The Afghan president wants to assure the inhabitants of Kabul that the security situation is under control and order has once again been restored."
It added: "The president condemns these terrorist attacks and has instructed the security entities to intensify security in the city and take action to arrest those responsible for these brutal and unpatriotic attacks."
The BBC's Mark Dummett, who had been in the basement of the Serena Hotel during the attack, said he could now hear no gunfire, but the city was in lockdown, with hundreds of security officers patrolling the streets and a helicopter flying overhead.
He said although the city appeared quiet, the discrepancy between the number of insurgents the Taliban said had taken part and the number given by officials suggested there could still be militants at large, and everyone remained on guard.
Speaking to BBC News from inside the ministry of finance, civil servant Emal Masood said he could see the Feroshgah e Afghan shopping centre was burned out.

He said: "One of my friends has a shop there. He told me two men entered - insurgents, yes - and were yelling at people to get out of the building. He said he left his shop open and ran away. Police were coming in as he ran out."
Casualties cannot yet be confirmed, but there have been reports of a number of civilian deaths, with wounded people being ferried away in ambulances.
'Deplorable'
The US condemned the attack. Special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said: "It's not surprising that the Taliban do this sort of thing. They are desperate people, they are ruthless."
The US embassy in Kabul said the Taliban's disregard for Afghan lives was "deplorable".

RECENT KABUL ATTACKS 15 Dec 09: Six killed in suicide attack near hotel in Wazir Akbar Khan district 24 Oct 09: Six UN staff and three Afghans killed in attack on UN guesthouse 8 Oct 09: Suicide bomber attacks Indian embassy, killing at least 17 17 Sept 09: Six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghans die in military convoy blast 18 Aug 09: Suicide blast kills 10 in attack on convoy of Western troops 11 Feb 09: Assault on three government buildings kills 27, including eight attackers In pictures: Kabul attack

Taliban militants have launched a number of recent attacks on Kabul.
In October, five UN staff were killed in a raid on a UN guesthouse. The Serena Hotel was also targeted in the attack.
The BBC's Mark Dummett in Kabul says there will be huge concern that the militants have again broken through to the most protected part of the city, although security forces say they do prevent many other attacks.
Nato spokesman US Navy Lt Nico Melendez told the BBC innocent civilians had been the target of Monday's attack.
"We don't see a lot of attacks like this in Kabul. We do know that there are forces throughout the city providing protection for the innocent Afghan citizens and we're doing everything we can to help the Afghan police and the Afghan army.
"You can't protect all the people, all the time, all the places."
Monday's attack comes amid continuing political uncertainty in Afghanistan.
Mr Karzai was swearing in new members of his cabinet at the time of the raid.

Afghan commandos took part in quashing the Taliban operation

Afghan MP Daoud Sultanzoy told the BBC it was not a coincidence that the attack started at 1000 local time, "almost exactly the same time that part of the cabinet would have been sworn in only 100m away".
A large number of cabinet posts remain vacant.
Parliament has twice rejected many of Mr Karzai's nominations for a new cabinet, forcing the president to direct deputy ministers or other caretaker figures to run their ministries.
The uncertainty comes ahead of a key conference on Afghanistan in London later this month.
Mr Karzai was re-elected last August in a vote marred by fraud.
Since then, the US and Nato have launched an overhaul of Afghan policy, with a large number of additional troops pledged.

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